


Short for this World

by jakeromano7



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child Armin Arlert, Child Eren Yeager, Child Mikasa Ackerman, Death, Depression, Family Loss, Loss, Other, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakeromano7/pseuds/jakeromano7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren grows up in a cruel world. A world that holds no punches, and leaves him devastated at every turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Short for this World

Short for this World

Eren was five when his father died. An age where death was an abstract concept, so big for someone so small. He had had short time to call this world home, and already he’d lost one close to him. The boy cried when his mother told him. He didn’t quite understand why, but the feeling in his gut told him this was something to mourn. He knew he’d never see his father again.  
He was in his room one night, pretending to sleep when his mother came in.  
“Eren.” Carla spoke soft, voice beautiful and conveying all that was good in the world. For all she wished was for her boy to smile again. “Your dad was a great man. He loved you very much.” Each word was spoken with care, and Eren looked up at his mother. His face was streaked with tears, and Carla felt her heart break for the hundredth time. Yet she pushed on for him. “But you have to live for him Eren. We are humans. Our time is short for this world. We do all we can to help those around us. We must love and feel as hard as possible, and make our time here worth remembering. Your father was a doctor, and he saved countless lives, working up until the end. He died so that this world could be better for you and I. He wouldn’t want you to cry.” Eren nodded numbly as his mom rocked him to sleep.

***

Eren was nine when he met Mikasa. On a trip into the mountains with Armin and his grandfather. While the boys had ran off on their own to explore, they’d found a cottage in the woods. They approached with caution, clearly curious but nervous too. When Eren pushed the door open, he was met with the sobbing girl. She lay clutching her father, begging him to wake up. They were surrounded by other men, all dead. Eren and Armin watched as in the man’s dying breath, he removed something around his neck and pressed it into the bloody girl’s hands.  
“I love you princess.” Mikasa felt her world slip away as her father was taken from her. The boys stood in shock, not knowing what to do. Until Eren was on his knees next to the girl.  
“He…” She started, wiping away tears. “He s-saved me from t-them.” She paused, expecting Eren to speak. But the boy was silent. “I don’t know how I’ll live without them.” She continued, staring down at her father’s lifeless body. Then Eren spoke.  
“You need to live.” Eren said, a sudden look sprang to his eyes that the girl couldn’t pinpoint. The boy removed his scarf, and looped it around the girl’s neck gently before continuing. “You have to live, because your father wanted you to. Our time is short for this world. When have to push on for those around us. We need to change the world, so that the people after us don’t have to suffer as we do.”

***

Eren was ten when his mother died. He and Mikasa struggled to move the rubble, and Eren’s mind was in panic mode. He was snapped out of it when he felt a gentle hand on his wrist.  
“Eren…” Carla said. “You need to leave… take Mikasa and run. Far away from here. Go find the soldiers.” She ordered, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
“Mom… no…” Eren begged, falling to his knees and squeezing her hand. A tear splashed down on their hands as they gripped each other.  
“Eren.” Carla said, suddenly calm. “You need to live. You can’t save me. You’re just a boy. Our time is short for this world, and yours has not come. I hope I’ve done my best to raise you right.” She finished, smiling sadly.  
“You did mom. I… I love you. So much.” Carla watched in sadness as her two children left her, and then she was alone. She felt strong hands grasp her, and she smiled. She was coming home.

***

Eren was twelve when he enlisted. The war effort was desperate, and most who didn’t enlist were drafted anyways. Now the army took children at the ripe age of 12. They were running low on people to fight. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin embraced the inevitable and signed up. With the sole purpose becoming a soldier. At least, that was his façade. Surrounded by friends, he knew they had their reasons. However, they all shared a common fact. They’d all lost someone. Someone who mattered to them. Some of them didn’t have anyone left, and others fought for their families. It was a war that seemed unwinnable, and yet even in the face of looming death, they still smiled. Because they did have one thing left to live for. The kids now sat around a fire, the sound of crackling logs and crickets filling the dark night. They all had something to live for. A reason to fight. Because they all knew. They knew their time was short for this world, and if they were going to die, it would be fighting. On their terms.

***

Eren was fifteen when he watched his friends die. This would be the turning point of the war. The decisive battle. Recapture the wall and destroy the remaining titans, and humanity would prevail. Fail at securing the out wall, and the inner gate would fall. And humanity would face the same fate Eren’s mother had. He clenched his teeth as they charged into battle, taking flight as they propelled themselves along rooftops. When the scouting legion crashed with the line of titans, all hell broke loose. Eren expected death. He just didn’t realize how quickly. He watched as friends were snapped up around him. Watched them all go. But he wasn’t prepared to survive. He wasn’t prepared for wandering around the waste of the town, searching for his friends. It was a victory hardly celebrated, for he remained one of the last soldiers standing. Indeed humanity would reclaim this world. But it would be a world without his friends.

***

“You know.” Eren said, on his knees and staring at the ground. “Somebody once told me. Something I’ve tried to live by.” He looked up at the faceless stones, and his voice hitched. 

Reiner Braun.  
Sasha Braus.  
Bertodlt Hoover.  
Connie Springer.  
Marco Bodt.  
Jean Kirstein.  
Annie Leonhart.

Eren swallowed, forcing his eyes over the last two stones.

Armin Arlert.  
Mikasa Ackerman-Jeager.

Tears spilled over Eren’s cheeks, and the world went silent. His heart hammered in his chest, and his breathing was slow.  
“They said that our time is short for this world. That we live for those we’ve lost, and push on to make the world better so those who follow us on this earth can rest a bit easier. So they don’t have to know what it feels like. To lose a mother. A father. A best friend. A sister.”

***

“Our time is short for this world.” Eren finished, letting out a deep breath. He’d smiled and cried and laughed and hurt so deeply. He’d loved so hard and lost. He knew they’d be proud of him if they could see him. Because he had done it. He’d lived so greatly, in their name. He’d done it all for them. He sighed, and closed his eyes.  
“Now, I’m coming home.”


End file.
